What Is Microaggression?

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“Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults towards people of color.” Those who inflict racial microaggressions are often unaware that they have done anything to harm another person.”

Microaggressions are incidents of direct forms of racism that have become so commonplace in the daily lives of Americans that they are no longer viewed as racist in American culture. Many well-intentioned whites consciously believe in and profess equality, but unconsciously act in a racist manner. Because micro aggressions have become so commonplace, many blacks do not even realize they are being oppressed in certain situations. The invisibility of this form of structural violence further entrenches the discrimination and oppression in society.